A happy and sweet New Year to all of the Jews who read my blog (and those who don’t).
09/18/2009
06/03/2009
Honesty is the best policy, Israeli Exception Clause version
“Part of being a good friend is being honest,” Mr. Obama said in an interview with NPR News. “And I think there have been times where we are not as honest as we should be about the fact that the current direction, the current trajectory, in the region is profoundly negative, not only for Israeli interests but also U.S. interests.
So let’s hear Obama get honest with the Saudis, with the Egyptians, with the Palestinians, with the rest of the Arab Muslims. Then let’s hear him get honest with the Pakistani Muslims, with the Muslims in the Phillipines, with the Muslims in China, Russia, Malaysia, and Indonesia. Let’s hear him honestly tell Muslims that:
- Non-Muslims get to worship whom and what they please. Suck it up.
- You do not get to dictate to non-Muslims that you will kill them if they “offend” your infantile sensibilities about your religion
- In that spirit, rational people do not riot over perceived slights to their holy books and figures
- Non-Muslims are not lesser beings who deserve fewer rights than Muslims
- Non-Muslims have the right to worship in peace in Muslim nations, (and in non-Muslim nations where there are significant Muslim populations)
- Jews lived in Israel thousands of years before Mohammed showed his face in the Saudi desert, and Israel is the ancestral home of the Jews.
- Likewise, Jerusalem is the ancient heart of Judaism. Suck it up.
- Israel is a Jewish state. Suck that up, too.
- Women are, and should be treated as, the equal of men. Welcome to the 21st century.
- Binding United Nations resolutions are binding on all nations, not just on Israel and the West.
- Really, those of us who are non-Muslim are not the least bit interested in your fictional Caliphate. Plans for world domination are so 20th century. Lose the yearning for the good old days; they’re gone forever. Learn a skill. You’ll achieve more.
- To the OIC on the UN Human Rights Council: Try looking at your own backyards first before constantly slamming Israel. I sincerely doubt your nations would pass muster even on animal cruelty issues, let alone human rights.
- To the Arab and Muslim dictators, kings, princes, emirs, autocrats, and kleptocrats: Goose. Gander. If Palestinians should have self-rule, and free elections, so should Saudis, Yemenis, Egyptians, Syrians, Iranians (without the interference of the Mad Mullahs in choosing whom is allowed to run, there is no free election), etc., etc., etc. Otherwise, feel free to STFU about the centrality of the Palestinians and Israel.
- Last, but not least: Colonialism has been over for many, many years, and yet, you’re still blaming it for your societal ills. Get over it, and learn how to put your oil money to good use instead of paying for palaces, planes, and parties. Get a real, job, you lazy bastards.
That’s all for now. But I doubt you’ll find much of what I wrote up there in Obama’s speech tomorrow. Count the Israel references, though. There should be a ton of them. Because when it comes to being “honest” with friends, apparently, the honesty only counts when it’s directed towards Israel. Once again, the Exception Clause is in play. That’s where you add “Except for Israel” (or “Jews”) to the end of whatever is being said, or when what is being said applies solely to Israel (or Jews), and to no one else.
Comments Off
12/25/2008
All I want for Christmas is a mosque
I’m sure the OIC will rush to embrace this idea, and by next Christmas, we’ll see foreign workers in Saudi Arabia holding Mass.
EU Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering called on Arab governments on Tuesday to allow Christian churches to be built in their countries in the same way that mosques can be built in Europe.
In Saudi Arabia, at the end of a tour of Gulf countries to boost cooperation between the two regions, Poettering said Arab governments need to be more tolerant of other religions.
“It is vital that we get a better understanding of the Islamic culture,” he said.
“But it’s a two-way road. We ask for tolerance for Christians … in the Arab world. It’s mutual.”
Actually, it’s not. Just ask our buddy Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who gave the “alternative” Christmas message in England. (And excuse me, but WTF is an “alternative” Christmas message, and why, exactly, is there one? Do you think I care that the Queen wishes her subjects a happy Christmas but doesn’t speak to me on Hanukkah? It’s not my religion. Go about your business and be happy, just leave me out of it, is my motto.)
On this difficult and challenging journey of man from dust to the divine, He did not leave humanity to its own devices. He chose from those He created the most excellent as His Prophets to guide humanity.
[...] We believe, Jesus Christ will return, together with one of the children of the revered Messenger of Islam and will lead the world to love, brotherhood and justice. The responsibility of all followers of Christ and Abrahamic faiths is to prepare the way for the fulfilment of this divine promise and the arrival of that joyful, shining and wonderful age. I hope that the collective will of nations will unite in the not too distant future and with the grace of the Almighty Lord, that shining age will come to rule the earth.
In spite of it looking like Mad Mahmoud is talking about Jesus in Christian terms, he is not. And please note that when he says “Abrahamic faiths,” he does not mean the people of Israel, or Jews that support them. Because in his address to the UN he quite plainly stated that Zionists have no religion. He is talking about it from the Islamic point of view, specifically, from his belief in the return of the Mahdi, in which Jesus is subordinate to him.
And there’s also this part of his speech, which, if I’m not mistaken, is telling me that I’m not part of the world community because I don’t accept the teachings of Jesus. And, gee, now that I think about it, there’s a whole country full of people who don’t accept the teachings of Jesus or that nameless other prophet that he keeps talking about in this speech. Of course, he could be talking about Buddhists and Hindus, but I suspect he’s not thinking about them when he says this:
Now as human society faces a myriad of problems and a succession of complex crises, the root causes can be found in humanity’s rejection of that message, in particular the indifference of some governments and powers towards the teachings of the divine Prophets, especially those of Jesus Christ.
If you did not already know, Muslims believe that Jews rejected the teachings of the prophets, and when they say that, they mean the Hebrew prophets that Islam has claimed for its own. If only those pesky Jews had converted to some other religion, we wouldn’t have the troubles of the world today. Where have I heard that before? Oh, that’s right. On the neo-Nazi sites. But he also slams any government that has not accepted the teachings of Mohammed, in a way that is subtle enough that the Juan Cole’s of the world will be able to call the Robert Spencers paranoid and disingenuous. As for me, I’ll put myself squarely in Spencer’s camp.
The other part of the speech that got wide play is this one:
If Christ were on earth today, undoubtedly He would stand with the people in opposition to bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers.
Yeah, those “bullying, ill-tempered and expansionist powers”? They’re the U.S. and Israel. If Jesus were alive today, he’d be living in Israel, but not in Bethlehem or Nazareth. Jews aren’t allowed to live there. My guess is he’d be in Jerusalem, and a Likudnik, as he was a religious Jew. (Ill-tempered? Say what? Did he just call Americans and Israelis crabby?)
Overall, Mad Mahmoud scored yet another propaganda victory. His proponents will insist that I’m misreading his speech, that Robert Spencer is an Islamphobe and by quoting him I’m an Islamophobe, too, and that Ahmadinejad really doesn’t want the destruction of Israel and the conversion to the whole world of Islam.
They will be wrong.
As to the EU parliament president on a response from Islamic nations about building churches there? Not in your lifetime, pal. Or your children’s. Or your children’s children’s. In other words: Merry Christmas, infidel.
12/14/2008
Another “disturbed” “extremist” kills another Jew
Every time a Jew is murdered by a Muslim who states clearly that he is killing the Jew in the name of Islam, the authorities and the news services fall all over themselves declaring that he was a nutcase, an extremist, or both. Or they play down the attack, refusing to call it what it is: Muslims simply obeying the Koran, which tells them to murder Jews.
“We do not want to predict the result of the investigations … and whether or not the criminal’s motives were political or not,” he told Reuters.
The BBC can’t figure out why a Jew was killed by a Muslim: “Security sources said it was not clear if the killer’s motives were political.”
The AP can’t figure out why a Muslim killed a Jew, either.
A Yemeni police official says a suspected Muslim extremist has been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a Yemeni Jew.
The official says Moshe Yaish Nahari was gunned down in the northern town of Riydah on Thursday but police have little information about the motive behind the killing.
It’s a mystery. I wonder if we can solve it. Perhaps we should read the Yemeni media reports.
During investigations al-Ubadi said that he warned the Jews in the area through a message telling them they must either embrace Islam, leave the country or be killed, al-Suraihi said.
On Thursday morning, in a market in the area, al-Ubad met with Yahuda, the brother of the grand rabbi of Jews in the province, and held a conversation after which he shoot dead Yahuda.
Of course, the standard excuse is that he was mentally ill. Funny how many mentally ill Muslims kill Jews.
Reasons for the murder might be due to mental illness as al-Ubadi tow years ago killed his wife the case which ended with tribal reconciliation, al-Suraihi said.
Al-Ubadi was also a former pilot in the Yemeni Air Forces but he was dismissed for bad manners and extremist thoughts.
I’m not quite sure what “bad manners” is, but I suspect a bad translation of, perhaps, violent tendencies. The man murdered his wife two years ago, and was not imprisoned because he paid the blood debt to the victim’s family, a really charming facet of Yemeni culture. But also in the Yemeni media story are these facts:
The rabbi claimed all Jews in the two district of Raida and al-Souk al-Jadeed suffer many violations and continuous attacks.
He said that he filed several complaints about this to tribal elders and officials in the area but all went in vein, saying all people are unable to protect us.
“The situation of Jews has more worsened as my brother was killed in the daylight, in a market before the eyes of many people, but none was moved.” The rabbi said.
He said Jews are prevented from carrying weapons and wearing the traditional danger Jampyah.
I don’t know what that means, either. If any of my readers know any Yemeni Jews, perhaps they could find out for me.
Arutz Sheva didn’t seem to have any trouble finding the reason why a Jew was killed by a Muslim, either.
Moshe Nahari, a Torah teacher and a well-known figure in Yemen’s Jewish community, was murdered on Thursday morning in Reida, a city north of the capital city, Sanaa. According to the Arabic daily Ash-Sharq il-Awsat, Nahari’s attacker called out, “Jew, receive the message of Islam” before shooting at him.
[..] The murderer fired on Nahari several times, made sure he was dead, and then waited for police to come. Ash-Sharq il-Awsat identified the killer as Abed el-Abdi, a former pilot. El-Abdi murdered his wife two years ago, but was not imprisoned because he agreed to give his wife’s family financial compensation.
Yemeni officials said the shooter who killed Nahari was deranged. The shooter was arrested, and allegedly told police he had killed Nahari because “Those Jews need to become Muslim.”
The Jewish community in Yemen has been under direct threats by Muslims for quite some time now.
Jewish residents of the Saada region in northern Yemen have received explicit threats to leave the area within 10 days from followers of radical cleric Hussein Badr Eddin al Houthi, according to the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan.
Following complaints from the threatened Jews, a meeting of the local authorities and the district’s sheikhs was held.
The Jews demanded they be treated as equal Yemenite citizens, and at the end of the meeting a religious verdict determining the relationship between them and the Muslims was given.
This verdict, which was also signed by Jews, did not guarantee them immunity from threats.
So after a little digging, we find that the reason a Muslim killed a Jew in broad daylight, in the marketplace, is because his religious leaders told him to do so. Not that he’s crazy. Not that he’s an “extremist.” But that he’s being a good Muslim, according to his own clerics.
The story linked above is from January of last year. Yemeni Jews have been in the country at least since the second century of the common era, and according to their legends, since the time of Solomon. Yet another thousands-year-old Jewish community, destroyed by Islam—the “religion of peace” that neither forcibly converts people, nor threatens “People of the Book,” who are supposedly under Muslim protection.
Lies, whitewashed by the world media, which I will detail in another post.
10/15/2008
The famous Muslim “tolerance”: Death to apostates
Say, that famous Muslim tolerance of other faiths we’ve heard so much about?
I’m thinking someone’s not being quite truthful.
A month ago, the Iranian parliament voted in favour of a draft bill, entitled “Islamic Penal Code”, which would codify the death penalty for any male Iranian who leaves his Islamic faith. Women would get life imprisonment. The majority in favour of the new law was overwhelming: 196 votes for, with just seven against.
Imposing the death penalty for changing religion blatantly violates one of the most fundamental of all human rights. The right to freedom of religion is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, and in the European Convention of Human Rights. It is even enshrined as Article 23 of Iran’s own constitution, which states that no one may be molested simply for his beliefs.
And yet few politicians or clerics in Iran see any contradiction between a law mandating the death penalty for changing religion and Iran’s constitution. There has been no public protest in Iran against it.
Not only that, but they’re probably really anxious to put the law into practice.
For one woman living in London, however, the Iranian parliamentary vote cannot be brushed aside. Rashin Soodmand is a 29-year-old Iranian Christian. Her father, Hossein Soodmand, was the last man to be executed in Iran for apostasy, the “crime” of abandoning one’s religion. He had converted from Islam to Christianity in 1960, when he was 13 years old. Thirty years later, he was hanged by the Iranian authorities for that decision.
Today, Rashin’s brother, Ramtin, is also held in a prison cell in Mashad, Iran’s holiest city. He was arrested on August 21. He has not been charged but he is a Christian. And Rashin fears that, just as her father was the last man to be executed for apostasy in Iran, her brother may become one of the first to be killed under Iran’s new law.
Guaranteed that when Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is asked about this in his next interview, he’ll say the reporters are a) Zionists b) not speaking for all Americans or c) don’t have the facts straight.
We have the facts straight. Iranian law is sharia law. According to sharia, apostates must die.
06/07/2008
Israeli shows Al-Jazeera that Israeli spirit
An Israeli researcher told Al-Jazeera (and by proxy, Muslims) exactly what Jewish ties to Jerusalem are compared to the Arabs.
Rayyan opened with the question, “Mr. Mordechai, is this decision meant to constitute another nail in the coffin of the Israeli-Palestinian negotiations?”
The journalist appeared taken aback when Keidar answered, “To tell you the truth I don’t quite understand this. Must Israel ask permission from some other authority in the world? It has been our capital for 3,000 years. We have been there since the time your forefathers used to drink wine, bury their daughters alive, and pray to multiple gods.”
Keidar was referring to a period Arabs call Jahiliyyah (ignorance of divine guidance), which prevailed in the Arab world before the time of the Islam. “So then,” he continued, “why must we speak about this? It has been our city for 3,000 years and will be for eternity.”
Hehehehehehe. That’s a good one. But wait. There’s more.
The stunned Rayyan refused to give up. “Excuse me Mr. Mordechai! If you would like to speak about history let’s talk about the Kuran as well. You cannot deny the existence of Jerusalem in the Kuran! I ask you to refrain from making statements that offend Arabs and Muslims. Let’s please stay with our topic,” he said.
“Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Kuran,” Keidar said.
Rayyan stated the verse that, according to Muslim belief, refers to Jerusalem, but Keidar continued to object. “Jerusalem is not mentioned in the Kuran even once.”
And it isn’t. I believe the phrase is “the furthest mosque.”
06/05/2008
Islam and tolerance of other faiths
Does anyone else think that organizing a conference on interfaith dialogue—from the Saudia Arabian city of Mecca, a place in which only Muslims are allowed to set foot—is a signal that perhaps the Saudis don’t really mean what they say?
Islam must do away with the dangers of extremism and present the religion’s positive message, Saudi King Abdullah said Wednesday as he opened a conference of Muslim figures aimed at launching a dialogue with Christians and Jews.
The three-day gathering in the holy city of Mecca seeks a unified Muslim voice ahead of the interfaith dialogue. In particular, Saudi Arabia hopes to promote reconciliation between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
By the way, there’s something wrong with that modifier in the second paragraph. Let me fix it.
The three-day gathering in the holy only to Muslims city of Mecca seeks a unified Muslim voice ahead of the interfaith dialogue. In particular, Saudi Arabia hopes to promote reconciliation between Shiite and Sunni Muslims.
Boy, are they trying to present a united front or what?
“You have gathered today to tell the whole world that … we are a voice of justice and values and humanity, that we are a voice of coexistence and a just and rational dialogue,” Abdullah told the 500 Muslim delegates from 50 Muslim nations in his opening speech.
Yes, justice. It’s the hammer of justice:
Saudi Arabia is one of a number of countries where courts continue to impose corporal punishment, including amputations of hands and feet for robbery, and lashings for lesser crimes such as “sexual deviance” and drunkenness. The number of lashes is not clearly prescribed by law and is varied according to the discretion of judges, and ranges from dozens of lashes to several thousand, usually applied over a period of weeks or months. In 2002, the United Nations Committee against Torture criticized Saudi Arabia over the amputations and floggings it carries out under its interpretation of Sharia. The Saudi delegation responded defending “legal traditions” held since the inception of Islam 1400 years ago and rejected interference in its legal system.
It’s the bell of freedom:
Saudi women face severe discrimination in many aspects of their lives, including education, employment, and the justice system and are clearly regarded as inferior to men. Although they make up 70% of those enrolled in universities, women make up just 5% of the workforce in Saudi Arabia,[6] the lowest proportion in the world. The treatment of women has been referred to as “gender apartheid.”[7][8][dead link][9] Implementation of a government resolution supporting expanded employment opportunities for women met resistance from within the labor ministry,[10] from the religious police,[11] and from the male citizenry.[12] These institutions and individuals generally claim that according to Sharia a woman’s place is in the home caring for her husband and family. It is a country where culture and religion make women live mostly restricted segregated lives. There is also segregation inside their own homes as some rooms have separate entrances for men and women. [13]
It’s the song about love between the brothers and the sisters, all over this land:
Participants said they hoped the gathering would culminate in an agreement on a global Islamic charter on dialogue with Christians and Jews. They expect Saudi Arabia will launch its formal call for an interfaith dialogue at the conference’s close or soon after.
Abdullah’s message, which has been welcomed by Jewish, Christian and Muslim leaders, is significant, though it remains unclear who will participate in the second phase of the initiative; in particular whether Israeli religious leaders would be invited.
Color me skeptical.
06/01/2008
More anti-Christian attacks in Gaza
Hamas’ lies about respecting Gaza’s Christians continue to be exposed, and ignored by the world.
A Palestinian human rights group says assailants have beaten up guards and stolen a bus from a Christian school in Gaza.
The Palestinian Center for Human Rights says the incident took place early Saturday morning at a school run by the Baptist Church.
A Palestinian Christian who worked at the school was killed in October, and a nearby Christian bookshop was firebombed months earlier. Last month assailants detonated a bomb outside another Christian school. No arrests were made in any of the incidents.
Since Hamas came to power a year ago, attacks on Gaza’s 3,000 Christians have increased. The Muslim group denies involvement and says it’s trying to protect the dwindling community.
Remember, first they came for the Jews. But if there are no Jews around, apparently, Christians will do just fine.
Countdown to the “It’s all Israel’s fault” chorus in 3, 2, 1….